Copy and paste this worksheet as a separate page linked to the Homepage of your portfolio. DO NOT type your answers on THIS document because it needs to be used by other students. The title of your page which replies to these questions is linked to your portfolio and should begin with the first initials of your first and last name. (In my case, the link to this worksheet from my portfolio page would read frtrifles.)
You may earn a maximum of 3 points toward your final grade by doing the above and answering the questions and submitting them on time (no later than Friday, August, 25). Any worksheets submitted after the deadline will get a 0. You will be rewarded a maximum of 3 points, if I judge your work to be above average. You will receive 2 points if your work is average, that is it may have a few minor mistakes in some of the answers but demonstrates correct grammar and indicates that some, but not all, of the answers, are acceptable and well expressed. You will earn only 1 point if you simply answered the questions and/or if you use poor grammar and if there are signs that you have not read the material on which your answers are based.
1. In the space below, describe the stasis at the beginning of Trifles. In other words, “Where are we?” “When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?” “What is the dramatic situation in which the characters find themselves as the play unfolds?”
- In the beginning of the play the setting is in the household of Mrs. Wright and her (now deceased) husband, more specifically in the kitchen of the home. No specific date is mentioned, but it is assumed that the year is 1916 or sometime in the early 19th century around winter as it is inferred many times and even outright stated that the weather is near or below freezing. As the scene begins to unfold, a total of five characters are introduced. Mr. and Mrs. Hale, the county attorney, and the sheriff and his wife Mrs. Peters. These characters are brought together to "investigate" the sudden death of Mr. Wright, the male characters being those who investigate while the female characters are supposed to be gathering a few materials to take back to Mrs.Wright who is in jail for being accused of murdering Mr.Wright.
2. What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play?
- The finding of the canary with its neck broken is the intrusion of this play. It implied a motivation as to why Mrs. Wright would want to kill her husband. He most likely killed the bird which prompted her to kill him in the same way, through strangulation.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
- Because of the time setting of the play (in the year 1916), it is unusual that not only would a woman kill her husband but that women would solve this case quicker than any male characters.involved since women hardly had a voice in this time period. Without the story being set in this year, there would be no interesting factor and no purpose for the play.
4. State the dramatic question or questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
- Throughout the play, the question posed is rather or not Mrs.Wright killed her husband and if she did, why? As the play progresses, it is discovered that she in fact did murder him and her reason as to why is not brought forth to all of the characters. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters come to a conclusion that the murder was committed because Mr. Wright was, in some form, abusive to his wife which prompted her to commit the crime but they decide to keep this information between themselves.
5. Use Ms. Hale to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is the dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what the character wants (NOTE: In Trifles the wants of Ms. Hale change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles for Ms. Hale.
- Mrs. Hale they came to get something to give to mrs.wright. mrs.peters (?) was asked to fetch these things and the other was invited to come along. what gets in her way is - me vs. myself - mrs.hale feels that she is the one that should be punished as she was not friendly to mrs.wright. me vs other individuals - disagree with the men . me against society - mrs.hale going against the law suppressing evidence of a crime.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. In your estimation what is the most theatrical moment in Trifles and what happens during that moment which is so important to the outcome of the play?
- The most theatrical moment in this play is at the end of the play when Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale decide to cover up Mrs.Wright's crime by keeping the evidence they found between themselves and hiding the canary. This is extremely important in that it kept Mrs.Wright innocent of the crime since no evidence was collected.
7. Provide at least three examples of images in Trifles. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”)
- The title of the play in itself gives some insight into the play if the reader familiarizes themselves with what a trifle is. The word trifle means to treat something with little or no seriousness. According to Ball's meaning of an image, there are three important images in Trifles. In the beginning of the play when the narrator describes everything in detail, the door of the bird cage being broken, and the pattern of the quilt being uneven and unfinished. These all seem to be insignificant, "just trifles" to the male characters in the play and even the audience, however the images are proven to be important as the play goes on and more is revealed.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Trifles.
- The most obvious theme in this play would be that of femininity and masculinity. The overall reason for the play is to prove that women are and have always been more than just house wives. Another constant theme is judgement. Judgement for Mrs. Wright and her reasoning behind the murder and judgement made by the men and women separately about the situation. A few smaller themes that I recognized were isolation, freedom versus confinement, and violence.
9. Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with Trifles? Is family redefined in Trifles?
- Family can be seen as redefined in Trifles because of the way Mr. and Mrs. Wright's "family" is shown. Typically the family image would be seen as a happily married husband and wife possibly with children, however, Mr. and Mrs. Wright are portrayed as living in an isolated and detrimental household with no children. The subject can, though, be pushed farther into saying that the women of the play could be seen as view of family since Mrs. Hale and Mrs.Peters were looking out for Mrs. Wright by going against the law to hide evidence of the murder.
Copy and paste this worksheet as a separate page linked to the Homepage of your portfolio. DO NOT type your answers on THIS document because it needs to be used by other students. The title of your page which replies to these questions is linked to your portfolio and should begin with the first initials of your first and last name. (In my case, the link to this worksheet from my portfolio page would read frtrifles.)
You may earn a maximum of 3 points toward your final grade by doing the above and answering the questions and submitting them on time (no later than Friday, August, 25). Any worksheets submitted after the deadline will get a 0.
You will be rewarded a maximum of 3 points, if I judge your work to be above average. You will receive 2 points if your work is average, that is it may have a few minor mistakes in some of the answers but demonstrates correct grammar and indicates that some, but not all, of the answers, are acceptable and well expressed. You will earn only 1 point if you simply answered the questions and/or if you use poor grammar and if there are signs that you have not read the material on which your answers are based.
1. In the space below, describe the stasis at the beginning of Trifles. In other words, “Where are we?” “When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?” “What is the dramatic situation in which the characters find themselves as the play unfolds?”
- In the beginning of the play the setting is in the household of Mrs. Wright and her (now deceased) husband, more specifically in the kitchen of the home. No specific date is mentioned, but it is assumed that the year is 1916 or sometime in the early 19th century around winter as it is inferred many times and even outright stated that the weather is near or below freezing. As the scene begins to unfold, a total of five characters are introduced. Mr. and Mrs. Hale, the county attorney, and the sheriff and his wife Mrs. Peters. These characters are brought together to "investigate" the sudden death of Mr. Wright, the male characters being those who investigate while the female characters are supposed to be gathering a few materials to take back to Mrs.Wright who is in jail for being accused of murdering Mr.Wright.
2. What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play?
- The finding of the canary with its neck broken is the intrusion of this play. It implied a motivation as to why Mrs. Wright would want to kill her husband. He most likely killed the bird which prompted her to kill him in the same way, through strangulation.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
- Because of the time setting of the play (in the year 1916), it is unusual that not only would a woman kill her husband but that women would solve this case quicker than any male characters.involved since women hardly had a voice in this time period. Without the story being set in this year, there would be no interesting factor and no purpose for the play.
4. State the dramatic question or questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
- Throughout the play, the question posed is rather or not Mrs.Wright killed her husband and if she did, why? As the play progresses, it is discovered that she in fact did murder him and her reason as to why is not brought forth to all of the characters. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters come to a conclusion that the murder was committed because Mr. Wright was, in some form, abusive to his wife which prompted her to commit the crime but they decide to keep this information between themselves.
5. Use Ms. Hale to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is the dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what the character wants (NOTE: In Trifles the wants of Ms. Hale change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles for Ms. Hale.
- Mrs. Hale they came to get something to give to mrs.wright. mrs.peters (?) was asked to fetch these things and the other was invited to come along. what gets in her way is - me vs. myself - mrs.hale feels that she is the one that should be punished as she was not friendly to mrs.wright. me vs other individuals - disagree with the men . me against society - mrs.hale going against the law suppressing evidence of a crime.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. In your estimation what is the most theatrical moment in Trifles and what happens during that moment which is so important to the outcome of the play?
- The most theatrical moment in this play is at the end of the play when Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale decide to cover up Mrs.Wright's crime by keeping the evidence they found between themselves and hiding the canary. This is extremely important in that it kept Mrs.Wright innocent of the crime since no evidence was collected.
7. Provide at least three examples of images in Trifles. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”)
- The title of the play in itself gives some insight into the play if the reader familiarizes themselves with what a trifle is. The word trifle means to treat something with little or no seriousness. According to Ball's meaning of an image, there are three important images in Trifles. In the beginning of the play when the narrator describes everything in detail, the door of the bird cage being broken, and the pattern of the quilt being uneven and unfinished. These all seem to be insignificant, "just trifles" to the male characters in the play and even the audience, however the images are proven to be important as the play goes on and more is revealed.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Trifles.
- The most obvious theme in this play would be that of femininity and masculinity. The overall reason for the play is to prove that women are and have always been more than just house wives. Another constant theme is judgement. Judgement for Mrs. Wright and her reasoning behind the murder and judgement made by the men and women separately about the situation. A few smaller themes that I recognized were isolation, freedom versus confinement, and violence.
9. Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with Trifles? Is family redefined in Trifles?
- Family can be seen as redefined in Trifles because of the way Mr. and Mrs. Wright's "family" is shown. Typically the family image would be seen as a happily married husband and wife possibly with children, however, Mr. and Mrs. Wright are portrayed as living in an isolated and detrimental household with no children. The subject can, though, be pushed farther into saying that the women of the play could be seen as view of family since Mrs. Hale and Mrs.Peters were looking out for Mrs. Wright by going against the law to hide evidence of the murder.